Battle Scars

.𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚.

10:00 𝙖𝙢                                                                                                     

Tony Stark was not a morning person whatsoever. For two reasons, but the list seemed to get longer every time he opened his eyes. 

He felt a pounding behind his eyes. It was a dull thud. It was annoying. Tony didn't want to get up but his alarm was blaring. He groaned and he pats around before he hit the off button. He laid there for a few seconds before he opens his eyes. He blinked the sleep away as he sat up. His mouth was drier than sand. He smelt even worse he thought to himself. It wasn't until he turned he realized he smelt...like a flowery perfume. '𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙄 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚? 𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨.' Tony groggily moved as he looked at the other side of his king bed. He could tell someone else was in his bed besides just him. But he couldn't remember, and he at the moment was too tired to remember. 

Tony yawned and he rubbed his eyes as he stumbled out of bed. He walked to the bathroom and he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like death warmed over. He was pale and he had extreme under-eye bags. He sighed as he turned on the sink and he splashed cold water on his face. He leaned against the sink. JARVIS kindly (or rudely) interrupted. 

"𝘚𝘪𝘳, 𝘔𝘴. 𝘗𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴."

Tony looked up at the ceiling and he shook his head. "Tell her I am not going. I am dying right now." He spoke gruffly. He could almost hear JARVIS sigh. But he didn't say anything further. Tony hated mornings again for many reasons. 

It took Tony an hour to get up and shower and get ready for the day. He was wearing a fancy three-piece suit and he was sipping on his third cup of coffee. He missed the conference and he was happy about it. He didn't want to sit in a boring and long conference. Other people weren't happy. Pepper Potts was the most upset about him missing the fifth conference this month. He was preparing to get a lecture (that he knew that he wasn't going to listen to). Tony sipped at the black and bitter beverage. It was too early for this. He wondered what happened last night. He could barely even remember. But Pepper jogged his memory as they were driving heading to another meeting he assumed. He had a small gala slash expo he had called it, it was a party, and that involved drinking and beautiful women and men so it was a win-win across the board. The memory flooded his mind, as the car was speeding past many tall buildings. 

'𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.' 

Tony now knew that he was with someone last night at the gala. All he remembered about her was the dark hair and soft skin he knew it was a woman because he had felt some of what happened last night. Tony was used to the one night stands and he enjoyed them very much. Tony shook out of his thoughts as the car rolled to a stop in front of a tall building. It was the tower he worked in plenty of times. It looked like someone was standing outside. Tony still had a small ache in his head. He took so much more Advil than JARVIS thought was needed. It was Obidiah Stane. One of his many bosses, he thought. But he and Pepper mostly ran the company. Tony got out of the car and he put on his signature sunglasses. It blocked out the brightness of the sun and it dulled the small ache in his head.

His driver Happy had joked very lightly, saying that it looked like he hadn't slept in a decade, and Tony just agreed because he knew he looked like that on a daily basis more than not these days. Tony got out of the luxury car and he stepped onto the concrete and up the steps. He could hear the clicking of heels behind him as Pepper had also gotten out of the car. He saw the flat look that Obidiah gave. Tony gave his usual smug and goofy smile. 

"Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Tony said playfully. Tony Stark was good at many things. Like being a drunk, a womanizer, a playboy, and his light and very carefree attitude besides other things. Tony wasn't a very serious person all the time, but he was almost like that most of his adult life. He saw Obie roll his eyes and shake his head. Tony's smile faded a little. He knew this look fairly well. 

"Stark. You're late as usual. We had a very important meeting. That you decided to skip on. Another scandal I see?" He spoke with a snarky tone. It always pissed Tony off because...well it was known that he and Obie had a very unusual relationship. After his parents died he was to live with Obie. And that was just a terrible as when he lived with Howard Stark. Obie always talked to him like a two-year-old and the ache in his head was getting worse. 

Many hours later Tony had sat through many meetings and calls. He filled out so much paperwork he was afraid that his head was about to fall off his shoulders. This day had not been very eventful. Tony was sitting in his office and he was slowly spinning in his chair. He was very bored, and his mind was now seeping into the dark side until it was interupted by Pepper coming in with a very unusual emotion. It looked like anger mixed with confusion. She was holding a phone in her hand. 

Tony smiled sweetly at her. "Ah, are you saving me? Thank you so much, it means so much." He spoke playfully. He frowned however when Pepper shook her head. She stayed silent for a very long moment. Tony raised a brow, he was now thinking that something was wrong. He could not feel it in his gut. Pepper was usually mad at him for missing his conferences and getting drunk every other night and sleeping with anything that swims his way. 

"Someone was on the phone today, and I was going to ignore it. Remember the gala you went to seven months ago?" She said. Her voice was steely and very serious. Tony stopped spinning in his chair and he looked at the blonde woman. He sat up straighter, and he shrugged. "I was drunk. So probably not, why?" He spoke gently to his PA. Pepper sighed heavily. 

"I was on the phone with this woman. She said that she is was pregnant with your child." The world seemed to stand still for a few seconds. Tony's brain short-circuited. He then shook his head. "Pep, you do know that many women claim that all the time." He said gently. He would not believe it whatsoever. Many women he would sleep with would claim this for a money grab, but it was always wrong. Pepper shook her head. "She already had the baby, Tony. She sounded very certain that you are the father of this child." 

Tony's mind couldn't wrap around this. He wouldn't believe this, he couldn't. He could feel his chest tighten as he looked at Pepper. "W-what is her name?" He managed to say. He looked at the woman who was giving him a sad and soft look. 

"𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙁𝙞𝙩𝙯𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠."

The world went blank...

-----------  𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 10𝘵𝘩 2001